Category: Today

On Feb. 1, 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States met for the first time in the Royal Exchange Building on New York City’s Broad Street, with Chief Justice John Jay of New York presiding. The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution, which took effect in March 1789.

On Feb. 1, 1908, King Carlos I of Portugal and his eldest son, Luis Filipe, were assassinated by revolutionaries while riding in an open carriage through the streets of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Carlos’ second son, Manoel, succeeded him on the throne, but in October 1910 a republican revolution forced King Manoel II to abdicate and flee to England with the rest of the royal family. In the same year, Teofilo Braga, a well-​known writer, was chosen the first president of the newly democratic republic of Portugal.

On Jan. 31, 1865, the United States Congress proposed the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, submitting it to the states for ratification. The Amendment’s main section reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

On Jan. 31, 1990, the first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in the Soviet Union. Having once traveled to Moscow, I’m exceedingly thankful for this.

On Jan. 30, 1948, Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi, known for his non-​violent, non-​cooperation struggle for freedom and national independence, was assassinated by a Hindu extremist.

On Jan. 30, 1956, Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s home was bombed in retaliation for his work on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

On Jan. 30, 1972, British soldiers killed fourteen unarmed civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland in what came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.” Soldiers shot 26 unarmed protesters and bystanders – 13 males, seven of whom were teenagers, died immediately, while another man died of his injuries nearly five months later. In the immediate aftermath, an investigation by the British Government largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame. A second investigation begun in 1998, released a report in 2010 declaring that all of those shot were unarmed, and that the killings were both “unjustified and unjustifiable.”

On Jan. 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as the 34th state and as “free state.” The struggle between pro-​slavery and anti-​slavery forces in Kansas was a preview to the bloodshed of the Civil War. In 1854, Kansas was organized as a territory with popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery. Both sides drafted constitutions and the political battle erupted in massive violence that earned the area the name “Bleeding Kansas.” The violence continued through the Civil War. In 1863, pro-​slavery forces burned Lawrence to the ground, murdering nearly 200 men.

On Jan. 29, 1964, Stanley Kubrick’s black comic masterpiece, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” opened in theaters to both critical and popular acclaim. The movie’s popularity was evidence of changing attitudes toward the concept of nuclear deterrence. And it was very funny.

On Jan. 28, 1981, President Ronald Reagan lifted the federal government’s remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States, helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.

On Jan. 27, 1973, President Richard Nixon’s Secretary of Defense, Melvin R. Laird, announced an end to the military draft in favor of a system of voluntary enlistment. Since 1973, the United States armed forces have been known as the All-​Volunteer Force. However, the Selective Service System, the federal agency that would administer a military draft, continues to be funded and American males continue to be forced to register for the draft.